1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus, such as a printer, for use in general business machines, and more particularly, to an ink jet recording apparatus that effects recording by discharging ink based on desired recording data and that has a double-sided recording capability.
2. Description of the Related Art
Printers are well known as recording apparatuses for recording desired recording information, such as characters and images, on a recording medium, such as a sheet or a film. Information processing apparatuses, such as word processors and personal computers, for creating and editing recording information have remarkably increased in performance, and furthermore, the variety of information input apparatuses, such as scanners, video capture devices, CD-ROM drives, and digital cameras, has increased. With such circumstances of the information processing apparatuses and information input apparatuses as a background, the variety of applications of recording apparatuses, such as printers, has also increased. For example, printers are sometimes used like conventional copying machines so as to record from a single source of recording information (a document) onto a plurality of media. The number of records made by recording apparatuses, such as printers, will tend to increase further in future.
As is well known, recording apparatuses include a serial type recording apparatus in which a recording medium, such as a sheet of paper, is fed and in which a recording head is mounted on a movable section, such as a carriage that reciprocates perpendicularly to the feeding direction, and a line type recording apparatus having a recording head of a length corresponding to the width of the recording medium. Known recording methods are wire dot printing, thermal printing, thermal transfer printing, ink jet printing, electrophotography, and the like. Among these methods, the ink jet method offers low running costs, reduces noise because it is a non-impact method, and allows easy color recording using inks of multiple colors. For these reasons, recording apparatuses of the ink jet type have outstandingly become widespread.
In recent years, importance has been attached to recording on both sides of a recording medium, such as a sheet, in the recording apparatus from the viewpoint of efficient use of recording media, such as paper, for the purpose of resource conservation. Various structures for recording on both sides of a recording medium in the recording apparatus have been proposed.
In the ink jet method, however, since desired recording is made by discharging liquid ink from a recording head onto a recording medium, such as a sheet, the following problem arises in double-sided recording. That is, ink permeates to the back side opposite from the recorded side, depending on the characteristic of the recording medium, the characteristic of the ink, and the duty of a recorded image. This may degrade recording quality; that is, a record on the back side is not clear, or, in color recording, the tone or the like of the recorded result on one side is substantially different from the desired one due to the influence of the recorded result on the other side.
FIG. 21 schematically shows a state in which ink discharged from a recording head adheres to and permeates through a recording medium, such as a sheet, and spreads in double-sided recording. When a discharged ink droplet adheres to one side of the recording medium, it spreads thereon. The ink droplet also permeates in the bulk direction of the recording medium, and is fixed. Subsequently, an ink droplet is discharged onto the other side for double-sided recording, and permeates in the bulk direction of the recording medium. In some cases, the ink that has permeated one side and the newly permeated ink mingle, thereby reducing recording quality.
In order to solve the above problem, the present applicant has proposed that a standby time before starting recording on the back side be controlled, or that recording density in double-sided recording be made lower than that in single-sided recording (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Nos. 134982/1994 and 314734/1995 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,742,301). In the former method, however, throughput is reduced depending on the standby time. In the latter method, recording density is simply lowered in double-sided recording, and recording data for lowering recording density is not described in detail. For this reason, recording quality is sometimes reduced, depending on the type of recording data to be recorded.
The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the above-described conventional arts, and it is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide an ink jet recording apparatus that achieves good double-sided recording without reducing throughput.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet recording apparatus in which ink is discharged from a recording head onto a recording medium based on recording data so as to record on one side of the recording medium and to also record on the other side of the recording medium. The ink jet recording apparatus includes a conversion means for converting at least a part of the recording data, a detection means for detecting recording data to be converted by the conversion means based on recording information including the recording data and an attribute of the recording data, and a control means for controlling recording based on the recording data converted by the conversion means according to the result of detection by the detection means.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet recording method in which ink is discharged from a recording head onto a recording medium based on recording data to record on one side of the recording medium and to also record on the other side of the recording medium. The ink jet recording method includes the steps of converting at least a part of the recording data, detecting recording data to be converted in the conversion step based on recording information including the recording data and an attribute of the recording data, and controlling recording based on the recording data converted in the conversion step according to the detection result in the detection step.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet recording apparatus in which ink is discharged from a recording head onto a recording medium based on recording data so as to record on one side of the recording medium and to also record on the other side of the recording medium. The ink jet recording apparatus includes a printer driver and a microprocessor. The printer driver detects recording data to be converted based on recording information including the recording data and an attribute of the recording data. The printer driver converts the detected recording data. The microprocessor controls recording based on the recording data converted by the printer driver according to the result of detection by the printer driver.